live a life you love

The Future is in Your Hands

Happy first day of MAY! My life has been a whirl wind lately, going back and forth from California helping my dad. But growth and learning have still been happening! My husband and I had the opportunity to go to an INCREDIBLE business conference last weekend and we both learned so much. There were a few things that stood out to me that I would love to share here. These are things that I believe anyone can (and should) apply and implement in their lives.

When you want to quit, think about your why. This means, obviously, that you have to have a why. And like I said this could be applied to anything. Why do you continue to work towards your goals? Why do you go to work? Why do you go to the gym? Why do you pass on the cake at a party? Or as simple as why do you get up in the morning? Find whatever it is that is going to inspire you and let that be your motivation, your “why.”

Ask yourself these two questions. What if I do? What if I don’t? This one connects really well with my first point, in my opinion. What if you did go after your goals, where would you be in 1 year, 3 years or even 5 years? What if you don’t? Where would you end up? This is motivation for me because visualizing where I could be in just one year if I make changes now makes me want to put forth the effort now.

What I say to myself has more validity than what anyone else has to say. This is referring to Self Talk. It’s a real thing, people! This may have been the biggest take-away for me. We become what we think about most. And unfortunately, what’s stored in our minds was usually put there by someone else. And what’s there isn’t always positive. BUT we have the power to change that! As silly as it may sound to some, affirmations, declarations, positive self talk, whatever you’d like to call it, make a huge difference. We need to believe in ourselves and telling ourselves that we do is a very important step! If you’d like more information on this, I recommend you read What to Say When You Talk to Yourself by Shad Helmstetter. I haven’t read it yet myself, but it’s for sure on my list!

Growth is not an accident. I actually can’t pick a favorite thing I learned, because they’re all so great. This one rings incredibly true and was mentioned more than once. We had the wonderful opportunity to hear from Andy Andrews, author of The Traveler’s Gift. He described it in a few ways. One being if you tread water, you slowly float downstream, meaning no growth is happening. On the other hand, if you are swimming upstream, you’re working and putting forth effort. Creating growth and change. If you do nothing, you aim at nothing. WHAT kind of life is that??? It just brings things into perspective for me. We need to have goals, and we need to DO things to reach them! It requires work, but it will be worth it.

Forgiveness is a decision. This was mind blowing too. Forgiveness is a decision, not an emotion. Emotions follow decisions. This makes forgiving much easier, in my opinion. Holding out on forgiving someone else only hurts yourself. Make the decision.

The Butterfly Effect. This is the concept that small causes can have large effects. This means that everything you do matters. Something that you do or a decision that you make today can have an impact on generations ahead. We are so important! Please don’t diminish your worth or the impact you have on your friends, your family, and the world.

I learned a TON at this conference. I love taking opportunities to learn from other people and gain new insights. I encourage you to be open-minded and look for opportunities to grow and change for the better. Set goals and reach for them! One of my favorite quotes goes something like this: “God loves you just the way you are, but He doesn’t intend on leaving you that way.” He wants to help us become better and reach our goals. We just have to work for it and believe in ourselves. The biggest obstacle to our success is usually us. If doing what you’ve already done could have given you what you want – you’d already have it.